Plato was the first to say that necessity is the mother of invention. Thousands of years later, those words ring truer than ever, especially for those of us in the automotive industry. During these tough economic times, we’re all looking for inventive ways to increase revenue while also cutting costs. Your dealership’s CRM can help you easily accomplish this in more ways than you might think. Following are seven ways to get more out of your CRM right now for free!
1.    Track staff schedules, vacations, and log time sheets instead of using an independent HR system.
2.    Use it for recruiting and general performance management. All applicants can be set up as custom campaigns and all interactions and employment forms stored in the system. Use it to survey employees post hire on their needs/goals, etc., and maintain performance evaluations and training documents in their CRM employee file.
3.    Track rewards or referral spiffs for customers without paying to implement a separate system.
4.    Use call recordings for training new staff as well as all staff on best practices.
5.    Use outbound automated call blasts for service reminders, just like a doctor’s office—don't pay another company to make calls for you.
6.    Track customers’ past due amounts and increase your collections ratios.
7.    Create your own newsletter with custom graphics rather than using an outside agency or newsletter company. There may be a one-time fee for graphic creation, but after that you'll save each month.
“When we first implemented our CRM system, we were thrilled at how quickly it helped us streamline our processes and cut costs across the board at our nine franchises. The limited way we were using it seems almost rudimentary now,” comments Ruben Muinos, business alliance manager of Galpin Motors, one of the largest and most honored dealer groups in the world. “We’re constantly discovering new ways to leverage it. The system is so customizable, we’ve got it helping our collection process, all of our service reminders and staff training, and we’re just getting going on our rewards program. Who knows what we’ll come up with for it next week!”
Jonathan Ord is co-founder and CEO of DealerSocket. Jonathan can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 949-900-0300.